A Strange Sort of Angel
by sideburnking2003
Summary: A special- needs teacher's assistant and a few of his students, out trick- or- treating one Halloween night, make a very special new friend who leads to them having a Halloween they'll never forget.


Disclaimer 1: I obviously do not own the rights to 'Trick 'r Treat,' Sam, or any of the other brands and properties mentioned in this story.

Disclaimer 2: The climax and ending feature bad language and implied brutal violence. You've been warned.

Disclaimer 3: I apologize if any readers feel that my portrayal of the three bullies in the end is racially- offensive. That is not my intention. All the characters in this story other than Sam are based on real people, with the names changed. "Alan" is based on myself, his students are based on kids I personally work with in a special- needs class (btw, "Josiah," "Alphonse," and "Omar" are all black, too, and "Joey" is Hispanic), and the three bullies are based on three VERY unpleasant teens I had the misfortune of dealing with back when I was a substitute teacher. For instance, the boy on which the bully "Sash" is based made mean comments about special- needs kids, and threatened to jump me in the streets for giving him a referral.

All that being said, enjoy!

A Strange Sort of Angel

At a quarter to 6 pm on Halloween, Alan Grundt had an excited smile on his face and a light spring in his step as he got to his parked car, entered it, and headed off to greet his young charges.

He always loved Halloween, viewing it less as a single holiday and more as a month- long (Or more) event culminating on October 31st. He had a bunch of traditions he'd do over the course of that period, and by this point, he'd knocked out nearly all of them for this year; He'd watched all the horror and Halloween- related movies and shows he'd been meaning to, helped out with his church's annual "Trunk or Treat" event and pumpkin patch fundraiser, had been to the local theme park's "Halloween Fright Nights" event several times this year, and would in fact hopefully squeeze in one more visit to it tonight, after he finished his current task.

Alan worked as a teacher's assistant to a special- needs class at a local elementary school. Some days could be difficult, he had to admit, but on the whole, he loved his job! The kids he worked with were mostly a delight, he cared for them almost as if they were his own children, and they in turn seemed to like "Mr. Alan" (As they called him) a lot, too. That was probably why their overworked parents asked him to take a few of them out trick- or- treating this early Halloween evening. A couple hours or so of taking the kids around the neighborhood to get candy, and then they'll be on their way home with enough sugar to launch a lunar probe while he'll be on his way to happily screaming through a few Haunted Houses at the theme park.

Sure enough, upon reaching the designated meeting area near a neighborhood church and getting out of his car, all four boys and their parents were ready for him.

Alan's costume for the evening (He couldn't help joining in, even though he was in his thirties) was initially a hard choice for him. While he had a great Freddy Krueger mask and glove from back when he was in high school that still fit perfectly and were in great condition, he knew it would be WAY too scary for the kids, especially as the youngest of them, Omar, was only seven years old. Fortunately, he also had a Captain America hoodie that resembled the upper half of the hero's costume, complete with a cowl that went over the upper half of his head and had eye- holes, and a shield he got from a Halloween store. Together with a nice pair of jeans and his low- cut Doc Martens, he looked like at least a decent rendition of his favorite superhero.

His group looked to have a lot of superheroes in it, as a matter of fact. Nine- year- old Josiah (Who had an obsession with everything involving spiders) was dressed as Spider- Man, and his year- older, wheelchair- bound brother Alphonse (Who always had a goofy sense of humor and loved pigs) was dressed as Spider- Ham! Admittedly, it was just a Spider- Man costume like Josiah's with a pig nose and ears attached, but Alphonse seemed to love it anyway. Omar was dressed as Batman, though the wide grin he often had seemed to contrast with that costume's serious demeanor. The only non- superhero in their group was eight- year- old Joey (Whose love of dinosaurs and dragons at times seemed at odds with his incredibly sweet, gentle nature); He was dressed as a T- Rex, with his smiling face clearly visible in the costume's open mouth.

"Hi, guys," Alan said to them brightly, "You all look great!"

"Thanks, Mr. Alan," Alphonse said in his gravelly yet jolly voice, "You do too!"

Joey gave an adorable- sounding T- Rex roar, which got them all laughing.

Before the moms left, Alan had Joey's mom take a group picture of all of them together.

"Now," Alan said as the last of the parents drove away, "Everyone got their bags?"

At this, all four boys held up their assorted bags for gathering candy.

Alan held up his own bag, as well. He figured he could give about half of the candy he'd collect to the students he worked with who couldn't join them that evening, and keep the rest (In addition to the discounted candy he'd buy in stores tomorrow). For a man his age, Alan had quite a sweet tooth.

"Then, enough wasting time, gentlemen," Alan went on, "Let's get going! There's a whole lot of candy out there with our names on it!"

"Yay," Joey piped up, "Candy, candy!"

The man and his young charges set out on their trick or treating route.

About an hour passed, with Alan and the boys hitting at least twenty houses. Even though they were slowed down a little bit by Alan having to push Alphonse's wheelchair, they were still making good time and collecting quite a haul. They chatted contentedly among themselves as they went, occasionally commenting on random things, Alan taking the intermittent picture of interesting trick- or- treater costumes they passed, or well- decorated houses they came across. At one point, they came across James, Dustin and Irene, three teenage friends of Alan's from the church youth group he volunteered at who were now dressed as zombies, and the two groups exchanged friendly greetings for a while before heading out on their respective ways.

Alphonse couldn't eat much of anything due to having a feeding- tube in his stomach, but he could still have lollipops, so they made a point of requesting that from houses they hit whenever possible. Alphonse said he'd share the rest of the candy he collected with his family. He seemed to be interested in trick- or- treating more just for the fun of it than out of an actual desire for candy.

Alan and the boys eventually came across a large house decked out with Halloween decorations. The lawn and house itself were festooned with lights, inflatables, an animatronic or two, plenty of hanging decorations and decals, and at least half a dozen jack- o- lanterns, each one with a different face carved on it. "Wow," Joey said, looking over it. "That looks pretty cool," Omar commented. Examining the big inflatable Frankenstein's Monster on the lawn before taking a few pictures of the house, Alan said, "Yeah, it is. You like it, Alphonse?" Alphonse responded simply "Yes," but the big grin on his face made it clear he was really impressed. As expected, Josiah was particularly captivated with some large fake spiders dangling from the trees in its yard.

They soon realized they were not the only ones admiring this house. A little boy was standing a bit farther down the sidewalk, taking in the view with his head cocked to one side.

"Hello there," Alan cautiously called out to the boy, "Happy Halloween!"

The boy turned to look at them, and rather shyly walked toward them.

He was small, about Joey's height. He was wearing a scarecrow- like burlap mask with buttons sewn in for eyes and stitching along the front that rather resembled a smile, and somewhat dirty- looking orange footie pajamas with a couple patches on them. He carried a burlap sack undoubtedly for holding his treats, which appeared to have a bloodlike red stain near its base ('Good effect,' Alan thought).

When he was right in front of them, Alan noticed a rather peculiar smell from the young boy. It was a very autumnal smell, with traces of apple, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and a VERY distinctive smell of pumpkin. He must have been carving a jack o lantern, or maybe helping his mom bake a pie or something before he came here, Alan thought. There was also a slight smell of chocolate, so he must have gotten a little impatient and snacked on some of what he got.

The boy rather expectantly thrust out his treat bag toward Alan and his students.

"He wants some of our candy?" Asked Josiah.

"I think so," said Alan, "Maybe just one piece from each of us. We have plenty, and it is nice to share, after all."

"Yeah, I'm good at sharing," said Omar, as he picked a fun- size Snickers bar out of his bag, "Like when I shared my pretzels with you at snack time that one day, Mr. Alan!"

Alan smiled at the boy's recollection of that day in class. The pretzel sticks were good, sure, but even better was the fact that they came from Omar. The boy could have a bit of a mean streak at times, so him doing something so kind and generous was something that should definitely be encouraged.

The other three boys and Alan each similarly took out a fun- sized candy bar from their bags, and they all dropped them in the boy's bag.

It was strange, though; This boy looked no older than maybe eight, but he appeared to be the only person out here other than them. Seeing a child that age out alone definitely didn't happen every day.

"Are your parents anywhere around here?" Asked Alan. The boy shook his head.

"Is there anyone else with you tonight?" Again, the boy shook his head.

"A kid like you shouldn't be out here all alone on Halloween night, it's not safe," Alan said, then went on, "Would you like to maybe trick or treat with us for a while? You can then leave us and go home whenever you want." The boy enthusiastically nodded.

"Would that be okay with you guys?" Alan asked his charges, "It's always nice to make new friends, after all." They all agreed.

Alan then said to the boy, "Well, we can't just call you 'Kid' all night. What's your name?"

The boy folded the inner rim/ mouth of his bag outward towards them, so they could see, written on it in very crude black letters, "SAM."

"Sam, huh," Alan said with a smile, "Alright. Pleased to meet you, Sam. I'm Alan, and these awesome fellas you see before you are Omar, Josiah, Joey, and Alphonse." He offered his hand, and Sam shook it with a surprisingly strong and tight grip.

After letting go, Sam then walked over to the four boys.

"Sam?" Alphonse asked, to confirm his name. Sam nodded. Alphonse then cheerily said, "Hi, Sam," to which the masked boy responded with a friendly wave.

"You like spiders?" Josiah then asked, and Sam again nodded. "Yeah, I like spiders too," Josiah went on with a big grin, "That's why I'm dressed as Spider- Man!"

"And I'm a T- Rex," Joey happily added, "RAAAAAGH!" Sam rather giddily clapped his hands at this.

"Hey, what's the matter," asked Omar, "Can't you talk?" Sam didn't respond.

"Now, Omar," Alan chimed in, "Maybe he can't. There are some kids who can't talk, or do some of the other things we can. Sometimes, they're even better at other things than we are!"

"Okay," Omar said softly, "Sorry, Sam." Sam patted Omar on the shoulder, as if to indicate that there were no hard feelings.

"Now that we're all introduced," Alan said, "What's say we actually ring the doorbell of that house? For them to have decorated like this, you KNOW they've got to offer some good candy!"

Sure enough, upon ringing the bell and saying "Trick or treat," they found that the house's owners gave them each a full- sized candy bar! Everyone was profoundly excited, and thanked the house's owners before going off on their way again.

The group, now one member bigger, continued trick or treating through the next few blocks and hit many more houses. Alan and the boys talked and laughed about various things, and Alan would at times chime in with random facts and trivia that he thought they'd find interesting. Sam never said a word, but responded to the others through nods, head- shakes, and gestures.

As they continued on, hitting houses and gathering candy, Alan started to inwardly wonder about Sam. While he seemed childlike in terms of how he walked and gestured, at the same time, something about him also seemed just a little bit off. Alan couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he just got the feeling that this boy was more than he appeared to be.

Finally, it was nearing 8 pm, the time at which they would be due to meet up with the boys' parents so the boys could get home. Alan alerted the boys to this, and, aided by the GPS on Alan's phone, began heading back in the direction of the church.

Their bags were all bulging with candy now, almost completely full. Omar and Joey were soon noticeably slowed down by carrying such heavy bags. However, even though Sam appeared to be about their height and build and had a bag that was even bigger and fuller than theirs, he seemed able to easily carry its weight.

"Well, well, well," a voice said out of nowhere, "What do we have here?"

Three people who seemed to be high school age boys began approaching Alan and his charges along the sidewalk. They all wore hoodies, jeans, sneakers, and cheap plastic masks of 'Five Nights at Freddy's' characters. The one slightly ahead of the others who had made that statement wore a Freddy Fazbear mask, while the other two wore masks of Foxy and Bonnie.

The one wearing the Bonnie mask said, "Looks like a bunch of retards who want to 'Donate' all their candy to us."

"Look," Alan said to them, while inwardly praying to God for protection and trying to make himself look as tall as possible, "I'm just taking my students out trick- or- treating. How about if we go one way, and you go the other?"

"We ain't going anywhere until you all give us your bags," the boy in the Foxy mask said, as the boy in the Bonnie mask pulled out a red smart phone and appeared to be recording the confrontation.

"Come on," Alan said, getting more scared as they didn't seem to back down, "These are special kids, and we've been out all evening collecting this candy. Just leave us alone."

"You wanna get cut, boy?" Asked the Freddy Fazbear thug, pulling out a switchblade. At this, the other two thugs pulled out knives, too.

Normally, Alan would have gotten angry at a teenager referring to a grown man like him as "Boy" (That was one of his pet peeves as an educator, it was so rude and disrespectful), but the knives caused his anger to almost immediately give way to fear and hopelessness. "Alright," The teacher's assistant said sadly, resigned to defeat, "You win, just please don't hurt us. Guys, give them your bags."

The three masked bullies stepped forward and began grabbing the kids' bags of candy.

Sam thrust his bag of candy at the bullies in the same expectant sort of way he did when he first met Alan and the students, but when the Freddy- masked thug then grabbed his bag and took it from his hands, the boy just stood there without any kind of discernable reaction, as though he wasn't quite sure what to make of this turn of events. Joey immediately started to cry when his bag was taken by the Bonnie- masked bully. The sight of Joey crying had long been one of the most gut- wrenchingly sad things Alan had ever seen, and this time was no exception. Josiah and Omar were on the brink of tears as well when each of them handed over their bags.

The Foxy- masked thug yanked Alphonse's bag out of his hands so hard that the boy stumbled out of his wheelchair and landed on all fours on the ground, with a little cry of fear.

"Hey, watch it," Alan said, noticing this as he handed his own bag to the Freddy Fazbear thug, "We're cooperating, there's no need to get -"

Then, out of nowhere, Alan was doubled over by a surprise punch from the Freddy Fazbear thug into his stomach. While certainly not fat or even really overweight, Alan did have a bit of a gut, definitely not hard enough to take a punch. Alan gasped for air for a few seconds and tried to keep down the leftover pizza he'd had for dinner that night, only to then be sent sprawling to the ground by another surprise punch from the boy, this time to the left side of his head.

"MR. ALAN," Yelled Josiah, as he ran to the man's side.

"Man, and here I thought Captain America was supposed to be tough or something," the sucker- punching bully said, as he and his friends laughed.

"Hey," the Foxy- masked thug said, "If you retards want something to eat, then y'all can eat my butthole!" He and the other two laughed even harder, as though that asinine statement was somehow funny.

Slowly getting up to his knees, Alan found himself reminded of his days in high school. He had learning disabilities himself and was badly picked on for them, called "Retard" on a regular basis, so he hated hearing anyone use that terrible insult. He believed that there's a special section of Hell reserved for people who pick on the disabled. He was just sad that the kids were getting their first (But, unfortunately, probably not their last) taste of such treatment at such a young age.

As much as Alan hated seeming like a grumpy old coot because he normally loved working with kids and teens, it seemed to him as though each generation of teenagers found new ways to be even more rude, nasty and cruel than the previous generation was.

The Bonnie- masked thug said to his friends, "Let's get outta here, maybe we can hit up some others," then as they began to turn around, he looked back at Alan and the kids and said, "Happy Halloween, losers!"

The three bullies ran off with their stolen bags of candy, continuing to hoot and cheer with laughter, with the Freddy Fazbear- masked one stopping at a jack- o- lantern on the sidewalk in front of a house just long enough to shatter it with one kick. Eventually, they rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

"BUNCH OF FATHEADS," Omar yelled at the retreating bullies. Alan would normally have scolded Omar for saying that (It was one of his favorite insults), but as he unsteadily got to his feet and helped Alphonse back into his wheelchair, he felt such an insult was honestly pretty merited in this case.

"They evil," Josiah said softly, clear anger in his voice as he put his arm around Joey's shoulder.

"I want to go home," Joey sobbed.

"I feel the same way," Alan sadly said, all his joy and excitement for the night extinguished. As soon as he got the boys back with their parents, he'd probably just head back to his apartment and rest until morning. He was glad it was a Friday night, so the bruise that he'd undoubtedly get on the side of his head would have time to heal before school on Monday morning.

Not only was what had happened very physically painful, but getting beaten up by a teenager less than half his age was so humiliating (Even more so by the fact that he could tell the Bonnie- masked thug recorded it all on his phone and would likely post it online in a matter of minutes). More than even that, though, was the shame Alan felt over the fact that he couldn't do a better job protecting the kids entrusted to him. None of them had gotten seriously hurt, thank God, but they were robbed, miserable, their Halloween ruined, and would likely have nightmares about this for quite a while.

"Hey," Alphonse suddenly chimed in, "Where Sam?"

Alerted to this, Alan looked around, but their new friend was nowhere in sight.

"He must have run for it when that guy punched me," Alan said weakly, as he held the side of his head with one hand and his stomach with the other, "I could call the cops, but those jerks would be long gone by the time they got here, and we have no real way to identify them. Tell you what: I'll get you guys some more candy at the store tomorrow morning and give it to you on Monday, and we can wait for your parents to come get you."

The four boys murmured that would be okay and their thanks to Alan, but he could tell they'd much rather have kept the hoards they spent so much time earning that evening.

"One thing you should know, if it'll make you feel any better," Alan said as they began to set back on their way to the meeting spot, "Is that jerks like them tend to get what's coming to them sooner or later."

A few blocks away, the three masked bullies stopped running to rest for a bit, continuing to laugh intermittently as they talked with each other.

"You're so gangsta, Sash!"

"Yeah, dog, the way you nailed that loser with two punches! BOOM! BOOM! I got it all on my phone so we can watch it later before I post it! It'll totally go viral!"

"Thanks, buds! Let's check out our loot from those retards!"

'Sash' removed his Freddy Fazbear mask, while his buddies known as 'Pit Bull' and 'Hambone' took off their own masks, and they looked down greedily at their recently- stolen candy.

Just as they were about to get their first piece of it, however, they were interrupted by a low growl from less than ten feet behind them. Startled, the three goons spun around to behold Sam standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Even with the burlap mask over his face, anyone who saw him at that moment could still tell he looked incredibly pissed- off.

Sash's initial fear at this unexpected arrival soon gave way to his usual cocky anger as he grunted, "The hell you want, boy?"

Sam reached out his right arm to them, pointing at the purloined candy bags and then at himself in a rather aggressive beckoning gesture that clearly implied he wanted them to give the candy back immediately.

"Hell no," Sash said, to the accompaniment of his friends' mocking laughter at Sam's gesture, "You ain't gettin' shit back! This is OUR candy now, all of it! Now get outta here before we mess you up!"

Sam didn't move a step, but repeated the gesture, looking even angrier.

"You know what," Sash hissed, "Maybe THIS'LL get your ass to move!" He ran at Sam and swung his foot out at the little guy in a hard kick, but Sam grabbed his foot by the heel, and with surprising strength for one so small, wrenched it to the side with a loud CRACK.

Sash howled in pain, falling on his butt to the sidewalk.

"My ankle," he wailed, then shouted at Sam, "YOU'RE FUCKIN' DEAD! Homies, let's get him!"

Pit Bull and Hambone whipped out their knives and advanced on Sam, while Sash got out his own knife and forced himself into a standing position as best he could with his wounded ankle.

Sam abruptly reached into one pocket of his pajamas and pulled out a pumpkin- shaped lollipop with a bite taken out of it which left a sharp edge to it, then from the other pocket he produced a half- eaten chocolate bar with a razor blade sticking out of it. Then, in a movement so fast it could hardly be seen, Sam leapt at the bullies.

A chorus of screams pierced the night air. Sadly leading the boys to the spot where they'd meet with their moms, Alan heard the screams coming from a street they were quickly approaching, and his blood ran cold.

"Wait here, guys," he said to the boys, "I'm going to look ahead to make sure things are safe."

He very cautiously took a few more steps forward, and used his phone's camera to look around the corner.

Alan couldn't believe what he saw: Not a single person was out on the street, but there, arranged neatly along the sidewalk just a few feet down the way, were all of their candy bags!

Alan went around the corner, and sure enough, there the bags were! A closer look revealed that not even a single piece of candy was missing!

"Come on, guys," Alan happily said to the kids, "Look what's here for us! It's a miracle!"

The boys followed Alan onto the street, with Omar pushing Alphonse's wheelchair. At the sight of the returned candy, Joey shouted, "YIPPEE!"

Hearing that made Alan grin ear to ear. He had long said that, if every time a bell rung, an angel got its wings, then every time Joey said "Yippee," ten of them did. It was always just such a cute, happy, jubilant sound.

Alphonse cried out with happiness and laughter as his own bag was returned to him. Josiah and Omar both flat- out danced over to their bags, while Joey sang a cute little song he made up as he grabbed his bag, which seemed to go simply, "We got our candy back, yeah! We got our candy back, yeah! Happy Halloween, yeah!"

Had Alan or the boys looked about twelve feet beyond the bags, near some bushes, they would have seen a red smart phone shattered to tiny fragments, a Freddy Fazbear mask broken in two, and a noticeable splash of blood along the grass. They also were so overjoyed with getting their bags back that they failed to notice that Sam's bag was not among them.

Alan and the kids made it the rest of the way to the meeting area, again talking and laughing like they were before with their happy moods completely restored. Seeing the parents' cars parked and waiting for them, Alan quickly said to the boys, "Um, maybe you guys shouldn't tell your parents about what happened with those jerks earlier. I mean, we got our stuff back, so no harm no foul, and we wouldn't want them to worry that the area isn't safe."

"Okay, Mr. Alan," Omar said, and Joey, Josiah and Alphonse all agreed as well.

Alan and a couple of the mothers took a few more pictures of the happy group holding up their bulging bags of candy, then Josiah and Alphonse's mom said, "Well, I'd better get these Spider- Men home to bed. Thanks again, Mr. Alan!"

The other parents all similarly thanked him. "My pleasure," Alan smiled, "Always happy to help!"

The boys each hugged Alan, then got into their respective parents' cars.

Alan waved goodbye to the boys as their parents got him into their cars and drove away, then began heading to the parking space where his own car was parked.

Just as he was turning to his car, he saw someone he didn't expect: Sam was standing right next to the driver's side door to the car, having seemingly appeared out of thin air.

"Where did you come from?" Alan asked. Sam gave no response.

"You're no ordinary little boy, are you?" Sam shook his head.

Alan then asked, "You somehow had a hand in getting our candy back, didn't you?" Sam nodded.

"Thank you very much, then," Alan said, "You helped save our Halloween. Here, a little token of our gratitude."

He took a piece of candy from his bag and put it in Sam's. The child looked down into his bag at it, then up at Alan with his head cocked. Even with the mask over his face, he seemed to be smiling as he then walked up to Alan and gently patted the man on the arm.

"Aww, thanks, Sam," Alan said, "I'd better head out. Do you know where you're going from here, and think you can reach it ok?" Sam nodded again.

"Have a nice night, then," Alan said to him with a smile, "And a very happy Halloween!"

Sam gave what almost appeared to be a kind of salute to him, then waved goodbye, turned, and began walking in the direction of the nearby woods.

Alan looked down to retrieve his car key from his pocket and unlock his car door. When he looked back up in the direction Sam had been walking, there was no sign of the little guy.

He was definitely no ordinary little boy.

As Alan got into his car, he first bowed his head in prayer.

"Lord," He prayed, "You sure picked a strange sort of angel to look out for us tonight. But, all things considered, it went well. My injuries were minor and will heal soon, the kids were unharmed, we got our candy back, and had a Halloween we'll all remember for a long time. It could certainly have gone worse, and I thank You that it didn't. Be with me wherever the rest of this night takes me, and whatever Sam is, bless him for helping us. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Alan found himself then rapidly regaining the enthusiastic spirit for the evening he had at the start of it. The pain in his head and stomach was subsiding, and Alan felt rejuvenated enough to continue on the course he had initially planned for tonight.

"Well," he said to himself with a grin as he backed out of the parking space, turned out of the parking lot, and drove off into the night, "It's still Halloween, and the night is still young. Halloween Fright Nights, here I come!"

Epilogue:

The teenage boys nicknamed Sash, Pit Bull, and Hambone were reported missing by their families after none of them came home that night, but the next morning, the police found them. Most of them, anyway. The three hoodlums' remains were found in varying conditions in the neighborhood, with one common factor being that all three of their faces bore expressions of such sheer terror that any who saw the forensics photos of them had the tendency to shudder.

On a street corner, a tall wooden pole which had previously held up a cheerily- smiling scarecrow now held up Hambone's corpse, dressed in the scarecrow's clothes and pinned to the pole with a variety of sharp objects jammed into various parts of his anatomy.

Pit Bull's body was found at the base of a large tree, completely disemboweled. His intestines and some of his other internal organs were found strewn in the branches of the tree like toilet paper. It looked almost as though he was trying to T.P. the tree with his own guts.

As for Sash, assorted pieces and chunks of him were found scattered around a three- block area. Most prominently, Sash's severed head was found on the porch of a nearby house, with his eyes gouged out, nose cut off, and a still- smoking little tealight candle inside his silently- screaming mouth like a sickening jack- o- lantern. Rather fittingly, Sash's head was left at the very same house whose jack- o- lantern he had destroyed earlier that evening. The house's owners were briefly questioned as potential suspects in the murders, but released when it became clear that they had airtight alibis for that night. As all three of the youths had long been strongly suspected of being members of a local street gang, it was speculated that the murders could have been the work of a rival gang, but the ritualistic way their remains were displayed didn't fit with the usual M.O. of a gang hit. Another theory advanced due to the ritualistic nature of the murders and the fact that the murders took place on Halloween night was that it may have been the work of some kind of Satanic cult, but no such group was known to exist anywhere in the county. Eventually, the investigation slowed down and was discontinued due to the lack of conclusive evidence or leads. Looking over the crime- scene photos in his office shortly before the case files were moved to the cold case section, especially the photo of Sash's head on the porch, the chief of police said, "Whoever it was, these three must have REALLY pissed off the wrong person." He had no way of knowing just how right he was.


End file.
